Massaging device



June 9,1953 F F.W.SCHMIDT 2,641,256

MASSAGING DEVICE I Filed June 21, 1951 INVENTOR. FB/ED/l w. .SCHMIOT Arrow? Patented June 9, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MASSAGING DEVICE Frieda W. Schmidt, Tarrytown, N. Y.

Application June 21, 1951, Serial No. 232,749

3 Claims. 1

This invention relatesto massaging devices and is herein disclosed in some detail as embodiedin a power-driven device riding on rollers, so that power is delivered to the massaging rollers sufficient to enable the pair of rollers to knead both they skin and the deeper underlying tissues.

Hitherto, massaging rollers, set almost touching each other and carried on a manually pushed handle, pinched the skin into the narrowing space between the pair of rollers and exerted a surface massaging effect which, though useful, fell far short of the deep seated benefit obtainable by a skillful m-assager.

Owing to the diificulties of proper manual pressing and pulling and shoving of the rolls by a handle, the desired deep seated manipulation of tissues has been unattainab by the var ou -arrangements of massaging rollers hitherto used.

According to the present invention the foregoing and other difficulties and objections are overcome and a roller device is provided which effects the desired deep massaging of tissues, and has all the advantages of the roller devices hitherto used in that the need for a skilled masseur is avoided.

To attain these and other ends the rollers according to the present invention, instead of being set almost touching each other, are set so as to be separated by a nearly half-inch space with the result that they are unable to pinch the skin, but in turning they roll up a substantial volume of the underlying tissues with the skin, provided the rollers are properly turned.

It is found that the user of such widely separated rollers as have hitherto been used for massaging is unable to satisfactorily manipulate them by their handle to turn them and is unable to produce the desired massaging.

According to the present invention it is found that merely turning one of the rollers by proper power overcomes that difiiculty, so a satisfactory device is produced when power is properly applied. In fact it is surprisingly found that it is sufiicient to turn one roller by power to achieve the desired massaging, even when the user is massaging the users own arms or body.

Moreover the positive pull by the power driven roller kneads and pulls the flesh of the patient somewhat as the hand of a masseur pushes one part over another in a manner impossible in the manually pushed roller, and differently from a pair of rollers geared to turn together.

In its preferred form the device includes a handle carrying the motor and the rolls take the form of balls rotating on axles or shafts close to the motor, so that electric power-may come by a flexible electric conductor cord through an axial hollow in the handle, and thus reach the motor, and through the-motor drive therolls.

Thus'the balls riding on the body of thepatient carry most of the weight of the motor, and thereby increasingly tend: to grasp. deeper into the fleshy tissues of the patient and at the same-time place the weight of the motor where it is most easily and most usefully carried.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter app r.

In the accompanying drawings:

1 shows one form of. the invention in face View;

Fig. 2 is an end view partly broken away and cover removed to show gear;

Fig 3 is a sectional view on the line 3--3' of Fig. 2.

In the form of the invention here shown, a round handle ID supports on its end a motor casing II, carrying a motor (not shown) carrying a revolvable drive shaft I2.

In the form shown the shaft I2 is geared to positively turn one massaging ball I3 through a countershaft I4.

The device shown includes also a second massaging ball I5 which is adapted to rotate freely on a fixed shaft I6 mounted in the body of a gear box I'I carried at the end of the casing I I opposite to the handle ID.

The smooth-faced balls I3 and I5 are shown as about 2% inches in diameter, of soft rubber, almost as soft as smooth surfaced firm sponge rubber, and are found to work best when their shafts are set at an acute angle, say, about 45 to each other and at such a distance that their faces are approximately one-quarter inch apart where closest together.

Spaced this distance they never pinch the skin when in use, but pick up and knead and pull the flesh of the patient in the manner a skilled masseur kneads the underlying tissues of a patient, but possibly even more thoroughly than has hitherto been effected on the average.

In the form shown the handle II] includes a central slightly bulging section I8 and a reduced stretch I9 at each end separated from the section I8 by a rounded rib 26 to facilitate grasping the device firmly.

The handle is shown terminating in a sheet metal cone 2 I by which it is attached to the motor casing II, and the cone 2| is diagrammatically shown as including a switch handle 28 adapted to be set to drive the ball I3 at either low or high speed or to cut off power from the motor.

Usually a very satisfactory speed of the motor yields a speed of one revolution a second of the ball [3.

In Figs. 1 and 2 are shown diagrammatically suitable drive connections for enabling the motor shaft [2 to turn the ball l3. In Fig. 3 a worm 23 fastened to the shaft [2 meshes with a worm gear Wheel 24 fastened to the shaft I4, so as to turn positively the shaft i4, and thus turn the massaging ball l3.

In the form shown the gear box I! may be a solid casting including a cylindrical bore 25 in which the shaft l4 turns, and which may serve as a bearing for the shaft.

The worm wheel 24 is shown as turning in a slot 26 transverse to the bore 25, so that an enlarged hub 21 on the wheel 24 serves to take any end thrust on the shaft l4, and is held to that shaft as by a set screw 28.

Thus the device is readily assembled by first inserting the shaft [2 in its bore to connect with the motor shaft proper, then inserting the Worm wheel 24, and then the shaft [4, with the ball l3, and then tightening the set screw 28.

Having thus described one form of the invention in some detail, what is claimed is:

1. A massaging device including a motor casing and motor therein, a gear box carried by the motor casing, a fixed shaft projecting from the gear box, a roller rotatable on said shaft, a retatable shaft projecting from the gear box at an acute angle to the fixed shaft, a roller fast to the rotatable shaft and spaced about one-half inch from the rotatable roller, gearing by which the motor turns the rotatable shaft, and a handle for lifting the device and projecting from the motor casing.

2. A massaging device including a motor casing and motor therein, a gear box carried by the motor casing, a fixed shaft projecting from the gear box, a roller rotatable on said shaft, 9, rotatable shaft projecting from the gear box at an acute angle to the fixed shaft, a roller fast to the rotatable shaft and spaced about one-half inch from the rotatable roller gearing including a worm and worm wheel by which the motor turns the rotatable shaft, and a handle for lifting the device and projecting from the motor casing.

3. A massaging device including a motor casing and motor therein, a gear box carried by the motor casing, a fixed shaft projecting from the gear box, a roller rotatable on said shaft, a rotatable shaft projecting from the gear box at an acute angle to the fixed shaft, a roller fast to the rotatable shaft and spaced about one-half inch from the rotatable roller gearing by which the motor turns the rotatable shaft, a handle for lifting the device and projecting from the motor casing, and electrical connections at the handle connected to control the motor.

FRIEDA W. SCHMIDT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,433,184 Csanyi Oct. 24, 1922 1,503,050 Jurk et a1. July 29, 1924 1,899,208 Murphy Feb. 28, 1933 2,011,471 Casagrande Aug. 13, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 381,763 Great Britain Oct. 13, 1932 

